CONTACTS:
To message Archimandrite Kyril or to arrange a baptism or wedding please email the Parish Priest@bristol-orthodox-church.co.uk (Tel. 01179706302 or 07944 860 955).
For more see: CONTACTS
SERVICES, PARISH NEWS AND RECENT SERMON ARE ON THIS PAGE
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Regular services and events: Every Saturday: 5.30 p.m. Vespers Every Sunday: 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy NOTE re CONFESSIONS: Fr Gerald hears confessions before the Sunday Divine Liturgy, but please come early, otherwise the Liturgy begins late. NOTE: The Sunday Divine Liturgy is always followed by refreshments and fellowship. On the first Sunday of the month this will be a Parish bring-and-share lunch. Guests are welcome! On most Sundays an open adult education class is held to teach more about our faith, beginning about 12.30.
WEEKLY SERVICES & INFORMATION (Note: our Parish follows the “New” (Revised Julian) Calendar for the fixed feasts. For dates according to the “Old” Julian Calendar, refer to an online calendar. IMPORTANT NEWS FR KYRIL: Fr Kyril has a medical problem and has been in hospital. His physicians are discussing ways forward. For the time being he will not be celebrating many of the services: please pray for him. In the meanwhile Sunday services will be served by Fr Gerald Theodore, whom we warmly thank for stepping in to help us out. Please pray for him also. Saturday Vespers and any weekday services will also be continuing as timetabled and will be either Priest or Reader led.
Sunday, 1st June. 7th SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 6. Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Afterfeast of The Ascension. 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy Readings: Acts 20:16-18, 28-36; John 17:1-13
Saturday, 7th June 5.30 p.m. Vespers (for Pentecost)
Sunday, 8th June. THE FEAST OF HOLY PENTECOST Today we deck the church with greenery and flowers. 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy (Readings: Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52, 8:12) Lunch. 1.30 p.m. Vespers of Monday: The Day of the Holy Spirit, with the “Kneeling Prayers”. (Today is the first day since Great Saturday that we kneel in church.) We hold flowers throughout the Vespers. NOTE: There are no fasting days this week.
Sunday, 15th June. THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS. First Sunday after Pentecost. Tone 8. 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy
Thursday, 19th June 7.00p.m. VESPERS IN CLIFTON CATHEDRAL for the 1700th Anniversary of the Oecumenical Council of Nicaea.
Saturday, 21st June 5.30 p.m. Vespers
Sunday, 22nd June. Second Sunday after Pentecost. Tone 1. Commemoration of All Saints of the British Isles and Russia 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy Below you will find: NEWS, SAINTS’ DAYS, and THE CURRENT SERMON |
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NEWS On Thursday, 19th June, our singers together with those of the parish of St John of Kronstadt in Bath will sing Vespers in Clifton (RC) Cathedral, Pembroke Road, Clifton at 7.00 p.m. We have been invited by the Bishop of Clifton on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Oecumenical Council of Nicaea at which was defined the Nicaean Creed, which is the common inheritance of both Churches..
PARISH NEWS CHURCH CLEANING:
FOOD BANK: DON’T FORGET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS who do not have enough! Bring contributions please for the box in church.
**BUILDING NEWS ** AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Maintaining a large and aging building like our church is costly. But we have been given it as stewards and we need to hand it on to future generations. Currently, we await a final assessment and quotes for the roof work, but Initial estimates suggest this is going to be expensive! PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY! THANK YOU for your generous donations. Without this, we would not have a space to worship in. We are extremely blessed to have our own space that does not need to be shared with other users. If we look after it, the building will be sure to last a few more hundred years and serve our community for many generations to come. GIFT AID |
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Some saints (AND FEASTS) of the coming days Saints of the British Isles and nearby places are in red
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For those who wish to donate to our Parish online, our Facebook fundraiser can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/453504039824339/?fundraiser_source=external_url
Sermon for the Sunday after Ascension – the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
Archimandrite Kyril Jenner
Acts 20:16-18, 28-36
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Holy Apostles is relevant to the commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, and also links that commemoration to the Feast of Pentecost next week.
Saint Paul, after completing one of his missionary journeys was travelling back to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. On the way his ship stopped at Miletus, where he asked the elders of the church from the nearby city of Ephesus to come to see him. Saint Paul had previously worked in Ephesus for three years, teaching the faith. Now he was concerned for the future of that community.
In what we read today we hear about Saint Paul’s concern for both the present situation in Ephesus and what could come if the leaders did not take proper care. For some reason Saint Paul’s comments about his past in Ephesus are omitted from what we read, but are useful in establishing the full context.
He explains that, despite the difficulties and opposition that confronted him, he continued to teach, both in public and in private, teaching the faith to both Jews and Greeks. (Acts 20:20-21) What did he teach? We are told that he taught the fundamentals: “repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21) These are the two basic things.
We need to repent of our sins. We need to acknowledge that we do not do what God wants us to do. We are less that perfect in our love for God and in our love for one another. We are too often focussed on ourselves, rather than on God. Only through acknowledging our faults, only through changing our attitude, only through seeking forgiveness from God, can we obtain that forgiveness and make a new start in our relationship with God. This we need to do continually, day by day.
Faith that we will receive forgiveness is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptural affirmation that “Jesus is Lord” (I Corinthians 12:3) is a proclamation that Jesus is God – the Son and Word of God made flesh for our salvation. Through his life, his teaching, his healings, his death and resurrection, and his ascension into heaven, he shows us the way and makes it possible for us to follow him. Through sending the Holy Spirit he empowers us to know him, to grow in faith, and to receive eternal salvation.
This basic faith is what was at stake in the First Ecumenical Council. The Church was under attack from within by those who tried to distort the faith, mainly by trying to rationalize it. Instead of just focussing on what God has done for us in Christ, they tried to explain how this was done. They tried to reduce the mystery of God to human reasoning.
The writings of the New Testament bear witness to the experience of those who knew Christ in his earthly life. They knew that he was both a human being, the son of the Ever-Virgin Mary, and also divine, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Our faith stops there. If we try to seek to know how our Lord Jesus Christ could be both fully human and fully divine then we will drift into a distortion of the faith. We will be trying to reduce the mystery of God to some part of human understanding. God is beyond our understanding.
Some seek for proofs of God’s existence. They are looking for the wrong thing. God is not some being existing within the universe. In the Old Testament it is revealed that God simply is. One of the names given to God was “He who is” (cf. Exodus 3:14) Rather than God existing within the universe we should see the universe existing within God.
So with our Lord. That he is both fully human and fully divine is what has been revealed. How this can be the case is idle speculation. We need to focus on what is more important, that is, on our relationship with him.
Do we repent of our sins? Do we accept God’s forgiveness? Do we truly seek to love as God has loved us? Do we see the love of God at work in our Lord Jesus Christ? These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves.
Saint John Chrysostom tell us: “We are loved and we love: but this is not the question. But let us love Christ, ‘for you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39) We have the second, we need the first: we need the first, exceedingly. … We have it, but not as we ought. Let us love him: you know how great a reward is laid up for those who love Christ: let us love him with fervour of soul, so that, enjoying his goodwill, we may escape the stormy waves of this present life, and be found worthy to obtain the good things promised to those who love him.” (Homily 44 on Acts)
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Like all small communities we rely on the generosity of friends and well-wishers. If you would like to contribute to the continuation of our parish and the upkeep of our historic church building, you can make a donation here:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/679204386685133/?fundraiser_source=external_url
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